


Ceremonial

by SilverBird13



Category: Beyond Re-Animator (2003), Re-Animator (1985)
Genre: Beyond Beyond Re-Animator Era, Consensual reagent use, Dan Cain's bad decisions, M/M, pulse kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-16
Updated: 2015-10-16
Packaged: 2018-04-26 17:04:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5012806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverBird13/pseuds/SilverBird13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"As Herbert slides the needle beneath Dan’s skin, he kneels forward, pressing his lips to the fluttering pulse millimeters above.  His mouth is flushed pink with excitement, and Dan shudders in pleasure at the image in the seconds before the reagent hits his bloodstream."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ceremonial

They had argued for days over where Herbert should perform the procedure. He had focused on the merits of the controlled environment of their latest makeshift lab, but Dan’s well-honed techniques of persuasion had ultimately won him the battle. 

The bed it would be.

He’s stripped mutely to his boxers while Herbert settled himself on a chair, his knees touching Dan’s bare shins, tender brushes of black fabric causing goosebumps to coat his arms and legs. He sits atop the comforter, sheets and blankets still as neat underneath as when he’d made the bed this morning. There is barely even a rustle of plastic as Herbert unwraps a fresh syringe, holding it close as he dips it into the beaker containing his life’s work, the rival that Dan will finally defeat. Herbert’s focus is solely on the ugly mixture now, and Dan’s teeth begin to chatter.

As Herbert starts to pull the reagent into the syringe, Dan can’t help but smile. They’ll be preserved together, living effigies that will stalk this coddled suburb in pursuit of an ugly knowledge. Should they be chased out with guns and God, at least it will be together. The world beyond Massachusetts sings to Dan in a way it never did when he was of an appropriate age to wander, and now, left arm outstretched to Herbert’s domestic touch, he cannot help but laugh. Herbert, unconcerned, poises the needle directly above the vein that pulses thickly against the skin at the tender crook of Dan’s elbow, its name long forgotten by a doctor who specializes in booster shots and yearly check-ups. He lets out a silent sob as Herbert smiles softly, so lovingly it burns tears into the corners of Dan’s eyes. 

“Ready.”

As Herbert slides the needle beneath Dan’s skin, he kneels forward, pressing his lips to the fluttering pulse millimeters above. His mouth is flushed pink with excitement, and Dan shudders in pleasure at the image in the seconds before the reagent hits his bloodstream.

The intense pressure, the feeling of his bones expanding under his skin is nothing more than Dan had expected. It is panic, it is fight, it is familiar. His body seizes in ragged jolts against against the mattress, dislodging Herbert and the needle from his arm.

“It’s just shock. You’re doing perfectly, Daniel.”

Herbert is lying against him now, wrapping a blanket over his shoulders and curling around him in protection. The bed is cold and unforgiving against his convulsing body. 

Dan’s throat is knotted, his chest empty, and he is unable to make any semblance of a response as he feels Herbert curl closer, rubbing his shoulders as he mouths at Dan’s thrumming jugular, a vampire’s apology to his prey.

There is a burst of darkness in front of Dan’s wide eyes, and then there is understanding.


End file.
